Careers

Curriculum Subjects

Careers

Careers, Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG)

Nita J Chotai (Parent Governor – Link to Careers)
Mrs J Ortega (Careers Leader – Assistant Headteacher)
Mr L Tapper (Careers Guidance Adviser)

Bentley Wood High School – Telephone: 0208 954 3623 SchoolOffice@bentleywood.harrow.sch.uk

Curriculum Career Leaders:

Ms. J Tebby, Mr. S Zabielski, Ms L Fountain, Ms. S Lomax, Ms. A Jones, Ms. L Bancroft, Ms. C Sinden, Mr. I Rankin, Ms. T Osborn, Ms. C Chandler, Ms C Belfield, Ms E March.

Student Career Leaders

Year 7 Khushi Doshi GCP and Evie Ryan 7AHU
Year 8 Maryam Rahemani 8GI and Sofia Subhani 8TSG
Year 9 Maryam Rizwan 9EV, Skandaja Kalakota 9ABI and Sonia Ali 9SHA
Year 10 Memlah Gharsaneh 10MAK, Priyana Varsani 10NMA and Sanaa Shah 10MAK
Year 11 Amal Bukhari 11MCO and Salena Motiwala 11JBH
Year 12: Nikita Mehta 12CSN and Zahra Bano 12JTF
Year 13: Muniba Hussain 13LFO and Amira Mohamed 13PBL

Aims

At Bentley Wood High School, we provide a comprehensive programme of careers education in line with the Government’s careers strategy, published on the 4 December 2017 and the Provider Access Legislation, January 2023, which sets out a long-term plan to build a world class careers system that will help young people and adults choose the career that is right for them. This statutory guidance has been updated to expand on the aim set out in the strategy to make sure that all young people in secondary school get a programme of careers education, information, advice and guidance that is stable, structured and delivered by individuals with the right skills and experience.

To achieve this aim, the careers strategy and LAP guidance sets out that every school and academy providing secondary education should use the Gatsby Charitable Foundation’s Benchmarks to develop and improve their careers provision. These benchmarks are: (1) To provide a stable careers programme; (2) Learning from career and labour market information; (3) Addressing the needs of each student; (4) Linking curriculum learning to careers; (5) Encounters with employers and employees; (6) Experiences of workplaces; (7) Encounters with further and higher education; and (8) Personal guidance.

Bentley Wood High School fully supports the statutory requirement for students to have direct access to other providers of further education training, technical training and apprenticeships.  The school will comply with the legal requirement to put on at least six encounters with providers of approved technical education qualifications or apprenticeships. This will be done in a number of events, as shown in the programme in appendix 1, including assemblies and Active Tutoring activities during National Apprenticeship Week and National Careers Week, in addition to providers attending careers events at school as a live or virtual encounter.

The overarching aim for careers guidance at Bentley Wood focused on widening students’ horizons, challenging stereotypes and raising aspiration. Bentley Wood will provide students with the knowledge and skills to make a successful transition to the next stage of their life and support social mobility by improving the opportunities for all our students (especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with special educational needs and disabilities).

High quality careers education and guidance in school is critical to young people’s futures. It helps to prepare them for the workplace by providing a clear understanding of the world of work including the routes to jobs and careers that they might find engaging and rewarding.

As the number of apprenticeships rises every year, it becomes increasingly important that all young people have a full understanding of all the options available to them post-16 and post-18 including wider technical education options such as T-Levels and Higher Technical Qualifications.

To read the full Careers (CEIAG) Policy please see below.

Useful websites for careers information

  • National Careers Service – a comprehensive careers website with job profiles, outlining: the skills required, main tasks, pay levels and career prospects for hundreds of different jobs. In addition, valuable guidance on the different stages involved in getting a job.
  • Icouldhelpful videos about a wide range of job roles
  • UCAS – a very helpful website for students thinking of applying to higher education.   Also contains valuable information on different options, including apprenticeships
  • Apprenticeships – a very helpful website for students and parents to explore apprenticeships opportunities, T Levels and traineeships.
  • Careerzones – From law and accountancy to science, healthcare and even animal welfare, there are loads of industries out there – each one with hundreds of career paths you could pursue. Check out what jobs you can find in each Career Zone and what you need to do to qualify for your dream profession.

 

Careers Programme

 

Autumn Spring Summer

Year 7

  • Careers Fair
  • Careers Library
  • Support within the PSHE Programme
  • External Career
    /Educational Talks
  • Support within the PSHE Programme
  • External Career/Educational Talks
  • National Apprenticeships Week National Careers Week
  • Support within the PSHE Programme
  • External Career
    /Educational Talks
  • Drop-in sessions with Career Adviser or referrals by HOY at lunch Monday to Thursday.

Year 8

  • Careers Fair
  • Careers Library
  • Support within the PSHE Programme
  • External Career/Educational Talks
  • Drop-in sessions with Career Adviser or referrals
    by HOY at lunch Monday to Thursday.
  • Year 8 Careers Awareness Morning
  • Options Evening
  • Support within the PSHE Programme
  • External Career/Educational Talks
  • National Apprenticeships Week National Careers Week
  • Support within the PSHEE Programme
  • External Career
    /Educational Talks

Year 9

  • Careers Fair
  • Careers Library
  • Support within the PSHE Programme
  • External Career/Educational Talks
  • Support within the PSHE Programme
  • External Career/Educational Talks
  • National Apprenticeships Week National Careers Week
  • Support within the PSHE Programme
  • External Career/Educational Talks
  • Drop-in sessions with Career Adviser or referrals by HOY at lunch Monday to Thursday.

Year 10

  • Careers Fair
  • Careers Library
  • Support within the PSHE Programme
  • External Career/Educational Talks
  • Drop-in sessions with Career Adviser or referrals by HOY at lunch Monday to Thursday.
  • Interview & CV Skills Morning
  • Support within the PSHE Programme/Careers Software Packages
  • External Career
    /Educational Talks
  • National Apprenticeships Week National Careers Week
  • Support within the PSHE Programme
  • External Career/Educational Talks
  • Drop-in sessions with Career Adviser or referrals
    by HOY at lunch Monday to Thursday.
  • Work Experience

Year 11

  • Careers Fair
  • Careers Library
  • 6th Form Open Evening Event
  • Support within the PSHE Programme
  • External Career/ Apprenticeship /Educational Talks
  • Parents Evening
  • Support within the PSHE Programme/Careers Software Packages
  • External Career/Educational Talks
  • Individual careers guidance meeting with trained careers adviser
  • National Apprenticeships Week National Careers Week
  • Support within the PSHE Programme
  • External Career/Educational Talks

Year 12

  • Year 12 Information Evening
  • Careers Fair
  • Careers Library
  • Support within the PSHE Programme/Careers Software Packages
  • External Career/ Apprenticeship /Educational Talks
  • Academic Tutors
  • Support within the PSHE Programme/Careers Software Packages
  • External Career/Educational Talks
  • Individual careers guidance meeting with trained careers adviser
  • National Apprenticeships Week National Careers Week
  •  Support within the PSHE Programme
  • External Career
    /Educational Talks
  • Work Experience

Year 13

  • Careers Fair
  • Careers Library
  • Support within the PSHE Programme/Careers Software Packages
  • External Career/ Apprenticeship /Educational Talks
  • Academic Tutors
  •  Support within the PSHE Programme
  • External Career/Educational Talks
  • Individual careers guidance meeting with trained careers adviser
  • National Apprenticeships Week National Careers Week
  •  Support within the PSHE Programme
  • External Career
    /Educational Talks

 

 Measuring and assessing the impact of the careers programme on pupils

Throughout the academic year students are asked individuality and in groups about the impact of the careers programme on them, feedback is usually verbal, students sharing their thoughts and comments or written, through evaluation/feedback forms with Microsoft Forms. As a school, we also listen to the feedback/comments regarding the many ‘Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) events for all year groups, from parents/guardians at Parent’s Evenings, Year 8 Options Evening and the 6th Form Open Evening in assisting their child’s future career and educational planning and the support they have received. We also regularly receive feedback from employers who have had students on Work Experience placements with them. Both teaching and non-teaching staff along with the students themselves also provide a guide in terms of measuring and assessing the impact of the careers programme on pupils through the final destination records obtained.

FE/Training Provider Access

Bentley Wood High School is committed to ensuring there is an opportunity for a range of education and training providers to access students, for the purpose of informing them about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.  Bentley Wood High School is fully aware of the responsibility to set students on the path that will secure the best outcome which will enable them to progress in education and work and give employers the highly skilled people they need. That means acting impartially, in line with the statutory duty, and not showing bias towards any route, be that academic or technical.

Bentley Wood school believes in giving FE, HE and training providers the opportunity to talk to pupils at the school.  Please use the following link to see its ‘Provider Access Policy’: “

Equality and Diversity

Access to other providers is available and promoted to allow all students to access information about other providers of further education and apprenticeships. Bentley Wood High School is committed to encouraging all students to make decisions about their future based on impartial information.

Review date of the information published

All information published on the careers page of this school’s website will be reviewed at the start of each academic year and at any point when required.

Work Experience

Year 10 and 12 Work Experience

In an integral part of the Key Stage 4 and 5 school curriculum is the provision of a Work Experience Programme for all students in Year 10. We have found Work Experience to be extremely beneficial to students in preparing them for entering the world of work. It should give them:

  • A better understanding of the reality of working life and working relationships
  • An opportunity to apply skills learned at school to the work environment
  • An opportunity to gain more self confidence
  • Students usually go on Work Experience in the last week of the Summer term.
  • Your daughter has two options: to ask Bentley Wood High school to find a placement for her or for your daughter to find her own placement.
  • The students will receive no payment for this placement because they are still in full time education

All students have to complete the Work Experience Student Application Form which is given to them in October of Year 10.

On the same week the Bentley Wood students will be out on work experience there are many other Harrow High schools also on work experience. It is therefore going to be a challenge to place students in their chosen job area. We very much welcome students using their family and friends’ networks to seek their own work placements.

In particular, if your daughter has an interest in the media, fashion, design, and law, you may want to help her find her placement. These placement opportunities are limited and difficult to get into. If your daughter is hoping to find her own placement, it is necessary for the employer to fill in the Self-Found Placement Form. Last year many of our students found their own placements.

Other Work Experience

At Bentley Wood, we strongly encourage students to undertake work experience whenever possible in other year groups.

This should ideally take place in the school holidays, although leave of absence from school can sometimes be negotiated with your relevant Head of Year – make sure you have a chat with your Head of Year before signing up for any opportunities that arise.

Work Experience Opportunities

Regular work experience opportunities that come to our attention will be posted on their Year Group Team and emailed in careers communications as they often have quite tight timeframes for applications.

GSK

GSK run an extremely popular three-day work experience programme in the February and October half terms called ‘Molecule to Market’ and based at their Stockley Park offices. Eligible year groups will be notified by Teams when applications open.

Cisco

Cisco run a technical and business based work experience programme in November and July every year called ‘Pathway to Your Future’ and open to Year 10 and 11 students. Eligible year groups will be notified by Teams when applications open.

EY

EY is a ‘professional services’ company, they provide assurance and accountancy help, assistance with tax affairs, consultancy and corporate transactions. They run a one-week Business Academy programme for Year 12 students in the summer.

McLaren Automotive

McLaren Automotive offer a work experience programme for Year 10 and 11 students every year, usually with a February application deadline.

The BBC

The BBC has four application windows every year and each one lasts two weeks. There are several categories of work experience available at four locations. You can only choose one category in one location. There is no separate category for online work, but all of categories offer placements that have a strong interactive element.

When you choose your location and category and fill in your online application, they will ask you some questions about your interests and passion for your chosen placement. If you are successful, they will do their best to match you to a placement that’s right for you.

Every work experience placement is different, but they’re all designed to give you the opportunity to make the most of your time there. When you arrive, your Placement Manager will want to find out more about you and what you want to get out of your time. They’ll try to get you involved in the things that interest you most.

Remember that work experience is unpaid but it’s a learning experience and not a job.

Medical Work Experience

Premed Projects, an organisation offering medical work experience and shadowing in the UK. Note that there is a significant charge for this service.

Law

Legal work experience can be very difficult to find, but the link to All About Law below provides you with some ideas. Remember that you can always visit a court during the school holidays and watch court proceedings. You don’t usually need to ask for permission, but it might be polite to email them first – there is always a contact email on the court websites.

Journalism

The Guardian newspaper run a series of short courses for aspiring journalists – some of them are run by well-known Guardian columnists. There is a fee for them, but quite a reasonable one. Click HERE to find out more.

Success at School

Click on the Success at School logo to visit a great list of current work experience opportunities to be applied for with a range of organisations such as the National Trust and JP Morgan.

Prospects

The Prospects careers website has lots of useful tips on both work experience and volunteering. Click HERE to access the starter page.

Rate My Apprenticeship

This website has an excellent guide to work experience, including a list of large companies and organisations that regularly offer it. Click HERE to read the feature.

Volunteering

People choose to volunteer for a variety of reasons. For some it offers the chance to give something back to the community or make a difference to the people around them. For others it provides an opportunity to develop new skills or build on existing experience and knowledge. Regardless of the motivation, what unites them all is that they find it both challenging and rewarding.

What could be better than a chance to make a difference AND make your CV look great AT THE SAME TIME!!!

 

Options Year 8

The subjects and qualifications you study over Years 9, 10 and 11 will affect how you spend your time during your next three years at Bentley Wood. It could also help set you up for the career or college course you want later on.

How do I choose?

To help you decide what to study in Years 8, 9, 10 and 11, start by asking yourself what you enjoy doing and what you’re good at.

Think about:

  • what you’re interested in: it could be other cultures and languages, writing projects, helping people, being outdoors or designing things
  • what types of activity you enjoy most – working things out and thinking them through, practical activities or artistic options like painting, drawing or performing music
  • what you’re like at home, as well as in school – what skills have you developed following outside interests?

Some red hot tips…..

  • Get as much information as you can so you choose well.
  • Ask for help from your Head of Year.
  • If you have a firm career idea, research it and choose your options accordingly. Remember, no qualification is ever wasted.
  • You don’t have to have a career in mind at this stage – you just need to choose subjects and courses that will give you plenty of choice later on.
  • Choose subjects that you enjoy!
  • Check out whether the subjects have coursework, controlled assessment (NEA) or just exams.

Where can I get help and advice?

The choices are yours, but most people look for advice on important decisions. There’s plenty available, but you should do as much as you can yourself to research all the options.

Parents, carers, family and friends probably know you best, so talking to them can help you work out what might suit you. But remember that they won’t always know a lot about careers or courses you’re interested in. If you’re planning to work towards a particular career or college course, don’t be put off just because it means taking a different direction from friends or family members. Subject teachers know exactly what studying a subject in Year 8, 9, 10 and 11 involves, and can advise whether it’s right for you.

Mrs Ortega (Careers Leader) can guide you towards advice about which subjects and qualifications are useful for particular careers.

Mr Tapper the school’s Careers Adviser, will be at Parents/Options Evening for you to ask any questions.

 

 

Options Post 16

Options Post 16

What are my Options?

Remember, the participation age has been raised, so you now have to stay in some sort of education or training until your 18th birthday. But you do have a number of options for the form this can take.

A Levels

The most popular option is to continue your studies into A Levels. You can do this at Bentley Wood or at another school with a sixth form or a sixth form college.  This provides you with the best basis to access university courses, although it’s not the only way.

Apprenticeships

You can apply to do an apprenticeship and get paid while you learn!  For further information on Apprenticeships follow this link: https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship

Other College Courses

You can do a different course at a college.  This could be a diploma or a vocational qualification such as an NVQ, a City and Guilds or a BTEC. Mr Tapper, the school’s Careers Adviser, can help you with these.

Skills Route:

Skills Route is a set of tools to help students, explore the different routes that they could take, plan and learn about all the options that are available for study after GCSE and find all the information they need to research college or sixth forms. The link is below.

www.skillsroute.com

Useful websites:

The Free Future Finder website helps students learn which STEM A Levels, are used in Medical Careers such as General Practitioner, Hospital Doctor, Surgeon, Psychiatrist and Pathologist. This feature also can be used for other Health and STEM related careers. There are lots of inspirational Career paths to explore here  TheFemaleLead.

 

Options Post 18

What are my Options?

Most people in Year 13 at Bentley Wood go through the UCAS application process to get into university. However, there are other options which may very well be right for some of you.

University

Most people at Bentley Wood would look at a full degree taking three years plus, although it also possible to do a Foundation Degree – these last two years and allow more of an option at the end of those two years about what you do next.

Apprenticeships and School Leaver Programmes

You may wish to investigate doing an apprenticeship when you leave Bentley Wood – an increasingly popular (and also competitive) option in the light of the increased burden of student tuition fees at university. For further information on Apprenticeships follow this link: https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship

Please view the video link below for information about Higher Education and Apprenticeships. Higher Education and Apprenticeships

Please view the video link below for information about applying to Medical School Update to Medical Admissions – A Guide for Medical Applicants

Gap Year

You may decide to take a gap year before going to university.

Employment

You may wish to leave education entirely at this point and try to get a job.

The Free Future Finder website helps students learn which STEM A Levels, are used in Medical Careers such as General Practitioner, Hospital Doctor, Surgeon, Psychiatrist and Pathologist. This feature also can be used for other Health and STEM related careers. There are lots of inspirational Career paths to explore here  TheFemaleLead.

Skills Route

Skills Route is a set of tools to help students, explore the different routes that they could take, plan and learn about all the options that are available for study after GCSE and find all the information they need to research college or sixth forms. The link is below.

www.skillsroute.com

LMI (Labour market infomation)

Labour market information (or LMI) is essentially data on where people work, the salaries they earn, the skills that are in demand and can forecast future trends and job vacancies. These resources will help you find information on labour market and careers.

Labour Market Information (or LMI) includes:

  • Data on where people work
  • The salaries they earn
  • Skills that are in demand
  • Future trends and job vacancies

Resources

National Careers Service provides high quality, free and impartial careers advice, information and guidance to help make decisions on learning, training and work.

This video will give you a brief overview of some of the work the National Careers Service undertakes.

The LMI for All portal provides high quality, reliable Labour Market Information (LMI) to inform careers decisions. http://www.lmiforall.org.uk/explore_lmi/

NOMIS – Nomis is a service provided by the Office for National Statistics, ONS, to give free access to the most detailed and up-to-date UK labour market statistics from official sources.

icould – Free and simple to use, icould.com features over 1000 videos of people talking about their careers – explaining their job role, career path, and how different factors have shaped their direction.

My Learning, My Future is a suite of resources that has been developed in partnership with The Careers & Enterprise Company and Skills Builder to help colleagues speak confidently about careers related to subjects, as well as the various pathways and skills needed by employers.

Quality in Careers Award

We are delighted to announce that the school is currently being considered for recognition with a Quality in Careers Award